To do the work you love, you’ve got to unlock a few doors. UNLOCKED Stories are honest conversations with people who chose a path and made it happen.
A note from Ellen: I’m excited to feature this interview with Dale Franzen, a former opera singer who — after retiring from singing full time — took on an “impossible project” that nobody thought she could complete: raising millions of dollars to construct and then run a new performing arts center, and in doing so, changing the entire landscape of her community.
If you’ve got a dream or project that feels “too big” or “too hard,” I know that Dale’s story of perseverance will motivate you to keep fighting no matter what.
What do you do?
[Dale]: I recently stepped down from being the artistic director and executive director of The Broad Stage on the west side of Los Angeles. I worked there for 17 years.
Right now I am in “sabbatical mode.” Not really working. Just playing and exploring, having lunches with interesting people, and giving myself permission to slowly choose my next move.
This is the first time in my entire life where I have the luxury of not “having” to work — and I’m enjoying it to the fullest! Expanding my hat collection is a top priority right now. I’m also very into scarves and fascinators.
What were you doing before you worked at The Broad Stage?
[Dale]: I was an opera singer. I sang professionally for about 20 years.
It was an incredibly rewarding path — but also highly demanding. Long rehearsals, late nights at the theater, intense pressure, lots of traveling, and of course, time away from my family.
Being a full-time performing artist brought me intense joy for a very long time. But after having my third child, I knew it was time for a change.
I transitioned into teaching voice lessons in the music department at a local college. Working there, I met the then-president of the college, Piedad Robertson — a woman who soon became my mentor and a huge source of inspiration.
One day, Piedad invited me to come along with her on a little “field trip.” We visited the site of an elementary school that had been ruined in a recent earthquake. She told me that the college had purchased the plot of land.
She gestured at the concrete rubble and asked me, “What do you think we should build here?”
Without thinking, I blurted out, “A theater!”
She said, “Great, you do that.”
I thought she was joking but she wasn’t. She created a brand new position for me at the college — “Director of Special Projects” — and set aside a small amount of funding to set the project in motion.
As a former opera singer, I had zero experience in business, fundraising, construction, managing a team, negotiating with city councils, anything like that. But I was passionate and I had a vision — I think Piedad recognized that in me.
I was so inexperienced, I remember thinking to myself in those early stages of the project: “Well, how hard could this be?”
My lack of experience actually served as one of my greatest strengths. Because I “didn’t know” anything about how a project of this magnitude was “supposed” to go, I was free to do it my way.
It took 10 years and required unbelievable effort and conviction, but ultimately, the theater was born.
I ran the theater for 7 years after it’s completion and then decided that it was time to pass the baton on to somebody else. Every chapter comes to a natural end. When it’s time, you just know.
What is your favorite part about what you are doing now?
[Dale]: I am in a beautiful free fall period where I don’t urgently “need” to work — but if I want to, I can.
I am free to reimagine my new life.
I do have a few projects lined up for the future, though, including co-producing an original musical called Hadestown, based on the Greek myth of Orpheus in the Underworld. It will debut in NYC in spring 2016. The music is phenomenal and I can’t wait to see it all come together!
What is your least favorite part about what you do?
[Dale]: In terms of running a theater: contracts, legal stuff, long boring meetings, procedures and processes. Anything involving “red tape.”
I am a “throw out the rulebook” kind of person, and when you’re working in a team environment within a large organization, like a college, that attitude can sometimes be problematic! Ha!
When you’re having a difficult or stressful day, how do you get through it?
[Dale]:Chocolate. Cup of tea. Walking. Yoga. Swimming in the ocean. Laughing with my kids or friends. Sex. Cuddling. Hot tubs. Massage. I also “self-medicate” with lots of lots of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. I talk about my favorite TV characters’ lives like they are real people. My husband calls them my “special friends.”
What has been the most challenging moment of your career so far?
[Dale]: When I was in the process of building The Broad Stage, we had over forty neighborhood meetings that were grueling, exhausting and very draining.
Even though we had a beautiful vision — to build a theater — a lot of local residents were violently opposed to the idea and had a LOT of opinions to voice.
I still remember one meeting where a local resident said something to me that was so offensive, so cruel and inappropriate, I actually broke down in tears.
But I survived and I learned several important lessons.
One: I am very good at some things, others not so much. So I had other people on my team handle those neighborhood meetings after I attended the first five or so.
Two: it’s important to listen to people’s opinions even if they are difficult to hear. By honoring our local residents and taking the time to listen to everyone’s thoughts on the project, we earned their trust and respect.
Who are your personal heroes and role models?
[Dale]: Eleanor Roosevelt
Isadora Duncan
Josephine de Beauharnais
Oscar Wilde
Nelson Mandela
My aunt Mimi
Winston Churchill
Each of these people overcame great personal, societal or political difficulties with originality and aplomb. Love that word: aplomb!
How do you get through “locked door” moments where you feel completely frustrated or stuck?
[Dale]: Go to sleep. Dream on it. Ask my husband and children and five trusted folks for their input. Look for a sideways solution — always remember that the ideal solution might not be obvious. Breathe. Tell a joke. Watch Outlander!
Last but not least: What’s your advice for anyone who wants to do amazing work in the world, stay motivated, and unlock major doors?
[Dale]: Always have a snack and a wrap. You might get hungry or chilly!
Take naps and get enough sleep.
Tend your body and soul first. If you’re exhausted, sick or unhappy, then it will always be a struggle to move your projects forward.
Take time to be alone and quiet for part of each day, sitting or walking, doing nothing, not multi tasking.
Listen to music. Look at great art. Spend time in nature.
LOVE deeply and without hesitation.
Have a partner, children and a few good pals.
That’s enough.
UNLOCK yourself
Three questions to think about, write about — or talk about with a friend.
1. Dale worked as a professional opera singer for 20 years — but after having her third child, she started to feel like it was time to transition into something new.
: Have you ever had a little whisper inside of you saying, “It’s time for a change”? Do you feel that way right now? What’s driving your desire to make a change?
2. When Dale took on the task of building a new theater, she was inexperienced and had no idea how difficult the project would be. But her lack of experience actually proved to be a blessing — she was free to make up the rules as she went along.
: Can you remember a time in your life where you had to “dive in” and “figure it out” as you went along? How did that feel? What was the end result?
3. Dale reminds us: “Tend your body and soul first. If you’re exhausted, sick or unhappy, then it will always be a struggle to move your projects forward.”
: What is one way you could give your body and soul some extra TLC today?
For more UNLOCKED interviews, click over here.
Know somebody that ought to be spotlighted? Write to me here.
See you next time for another inspiring conversation!